The Homily on the Right Use of the Church in Anglican Formularies
The Homily on the Right Use of the Church is one of the sermons in the second Book of Homilies, a collection authorized for public reading in the Church of England and received within the wider history of Anglicanism. The homily treats the church building as a place appointed for common prayer, preaching, and the reverent hearing of Scripture. Its importance for Anglican theology lies not in architectural theory alone, but in its account of public worship as a disciplined, corporate act shaped by the Word of God, the sacraments, and the ordered life of the parish.
Historical setting
The two Books of Homilies were produced in the English Reformation as official sermons for use where licensed preaching was limited or unavailable. The first book was issued in the reign of Edward VI, while the second book appeared during the Elizabethan settlement. Together they were referenced by Article XXXV of the Thirty-Nine Articles, which commended their doctrine as godly and wholesome.
The Homily on the Right Use of the Church belongs to the second collection. It addresses a practical question faced by reformed English parishes: how inherited church buildings should be used after the rejection of late medieval devotional practices regarded by reformers as corrupt or superstitious. Rather than treating the parish church as unnecessary, the homily argues for its continued and reverent use. The building is valued because it serves the congregation's gathering for prayer, thanksgiving, the reading and preaching of Scripture, and the administration of the sacraments.
Teaching on worship and reverence
The homily emphasizes that Christians do not confine God to any material building. This point reflects a Protestant concern to distinguish Christian worship from any idea that holiness is mechanically attached to a place. At the same time, the homily rejects irreverence and disorder. A church is set apart for sacred use because the people of God assemble there to hear God's Word and to offer common prayer.
This balance is characteristic of classical Anglican thought. The homily does not make the church building an object of devotion, but neither does it reduce it to an ordinary hall. Its reverence is functional and ecclesial: the place is honored because of the holy actions performed there by the gathered Church. In this respect the homily stands alongside the Book of Common Prayer in presenting public worship as common, intelligible, and ordered.
The homily also has a moral concern. It warns against idle behavior, private chatter, and other distractions during public worship. Such admonitions show that Anglican reform was concerned not only with formal doctrine but with the habits of congregational life. Attendance at church is not treated merely as physical presence; it requires attention, humility, and participation in the prayers and lessons appointed for the assembly.
Relation to parish life
In Anglican parish life, the church building has traditionally served as the ordinary location for the Daily Office, the Holy Communion, baptism, marriage, burial rites, catechesis, and the preaching of the Word. The homily's teaching supports this parochial pattern by explaining why common worship ordinarily needs a common place. It assumes that Christian religion is public and communal, not only private and domestic.
The homily also helps explain the Anglican concern for decent order in worship. Later debates over ornaments, ceremonial, seating, chancels, and church restoration often involved questions not directly answered by the homily. Nevertheless, its basic principles remained relevant: the church should not be used in a way that obscures the worship of God, and reverence for the building must be ordered toward reverence for God himself.
Because the homily belongs to the authorized formularies of the Church of England, it has often been read as evidence of the reformed character of Anglican ecclesiology. It affirms the usefulness of consecrated or appointed places for worship while resisting any theology that would make divine presence dependent upon local objects or ceremonies. Its argument therefore stands between iconoclastic contempt for church buildings and an exaggerated sacredness detached from the congregation's worship.
Anglican significance
The Homily on the Right Use of the Church remains significant for understanding how Anglicanism joined reformed doctrine with inherited parochial structures. It shows that the English Reformation did not abolish the parish church as the visible center of local Christian life. Instead, it sought to purify its use, placing Scripture, prayer, preaching, and sacramental worship at the center.
For Anglican theology, the homily is a reminder that liturgy is embodied and communal. The congregation gathers in an actual place, at appointed times, under an ordered ministry, to receive the Word and offer prayer. The church building is therefore neither ultimate nor incidental. It is a servant of the Church's worship, and its right use is measured by whether it helps the people of God attend reverently to the means of grace.